Links

Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) Ecosystem Restoration

The MRGO Ecosystem Restoration Plan was developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a supplement to the MRGO Deep-Draft Deauthorization Report to Congress. The comprehensive ecosystem restoration plan is aimed at the restoration and conservation of estuarine habitat areas affected by the MRGO navigation channel. Section 7013 of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2007 authorized the development of the plan, and a feasibility study, fully funded by the Federal government, is complete.

On October 2, 2012, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released the Chief of Engineers' Report for the "Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study" recommending construction of the restoration plan upon identification of a non-federal cost share sponsor. The Corps of Engineers worked diligently in collaboration with the State of Louisiana's Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), other local governmental entities, resource agencies, environmental organizations, landowners and interested citizens to produce a plan to restore the critical Lake Borgne and environs ecosystem.

The MRGO Ecosystem Restoration Chief of Engineers' Report recommends construction of the Federally Identified Plan, which would restore over 57,000 acres of important wetland and coastal habitat areas at a total cost of $3 billion. This plan is implementable in a tiered sequence consisting of numerous smaller elements. Implementation of the recommended ecosystem restoration plan requires the signing of a cost-share agreement with the Corps’ non-Federal sponsors, the State of Louisiana and the State of Mississippi, and the appropriation of funds by Congress.